SouthCoast readying for what could be an active hurricane season

Saturday

Jun 8, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 8, 2013 at 6:28 AM

SouthCoast officials are ramping up their plans for this year's hurricane season which has the potential to produce an above average number of storms, according to local officials and the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

CURT BROWN

SouthCoast officials are ramping up their plans for this year's hurricane season which has the potential to produce an above average number of storms, according to local officials and the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"We expect a busier season than normal," David Zelinsky, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Friday. The sea temperature over the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than usual and the U.S. is in an active hurricane phase, which typically last between 25 and 30 years, Zelinsky said.

For the six-month hurricane season, which runs which runs June 1-Nov. 30, NOAA's Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook forecasts a 70 percent likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms; seven to 11 of those could become hurricanes and three to six of the latter could be major hurricanes with winds of 111 mph or higher.

That's potentially well above the seasonal average of 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes, NOAA said.

SouthCoast officials said they are paying attention.

"The hurricane season is on our radar," said Wareham Police Lt. John Walcek, who is also the town's deputy emergency management director. "We're going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

"I certainly hope it's not an active season for us," he said.

Every time the National Weather Service names a storm — Andrea became the first this week — Wareham begins to prepare, he said. "We take every season and every storm very seriously," he said.

"It's disturbing" that this is could be a more-active season, Healey said. "I'm not surprised, given the weather conditions in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world."

Ed Pimental, the emergency management director in Dartmouth, said officials there are scheduled to meet June 18 to tweak their preparedness plan.

"It's never too early to plan. Hopefully, we won't get hit at all," he said.

Tim Dugan, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said staff there tests New Bedford's hurricane barrier during the year as well as when a storm is approaching to make sure everything is in order. He added that the barrier is currently fully functional.

The Hurricane Center's Zelinsky said the prediction for "an above average season" takes in all the storms in the entire Atlantic basin, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. He cautioned that the forecast does not include a specific area that is likely to be hit.

For example, 2010 was one of the most active hurricane seasons on record, but a storm never hit the U.S. Conversely in 1992 — an inactive hurricane season — Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm with 165 mph winds and 6-foot storm surge devastated Homestead, Florida City and parts of Miami and killed 15 people.

"The (high) number of storms doesn't necessarily mean the U.S. will be hit," Zelinsky said.

But people definitely should not become complacent. Zelinsky said the Hurricane Center is stressing that people who live in hurricane-prone areas have an emergency plan, supplies and an understanding of what to do if a hurricane is approaching.

The center also recommends that communities have evacuation plans and shelters ready in the event of a storm.

"Use (Tropical Storm) Andrea as a wake-up call," he said.

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